Modular dock sections which are releasably connected together and can be supported above water level by poles or other supports extending down to the bottom of a lake or other body of water are, of course, well known. Characteristic of such docks is the necessity to enter the water in frigid water conditions to install the dock in operative position and then, later, to seasonally dismantle it to prevent its being destroyed by ice or weather conditions.
The present system is designed to permit one person, or several persons, to both place the dock in operative position and, when desired, to remove it to storage position without necessitating that the person involved enter the water and assume the risk of hypothermia and its attendant health problems.
It is further designed to permit a dock to be set up or withdrawn in a rapid and easy manner using apparatus which can be purchased and maintained economically.
In its preferred form, the invention is concerned with a shore-based platform or the like on which dock modules or sections are received. In the water, the dock modules are connected by releasable locking mechanisms which can be sequentially disengaged for purposes of dock disassembly and retrieval as a drive mechanism brings the dock modules in a train sequentially to the platform upon which the dock modules are to be received. The modules can be supported in the water on poles which are removable when the locking mechanisms are released. When the dock is to be replaced, the dock modules are moved sequentially away from the platform once the dock locking mechanisms are sequentially engaged. The dock sections can float until they are raised to a predetermined level above the water.
A prime object of the invention is to provide an automated assembly useful in both placing the dock in position at the beginning of the season and then returning it to shore after the season.
Another object of the invention is to provide an assembly of the character described which effectually extends the season of dock use.
A further object of the invention is to provide a readily handled, lightweight dock assembly which is durable in use and does not require substantial maintenance.
Still another object of the invention is to provide new methods of operating and constructing docks.